Modifications
A key concept in the creation and transformation of Make/Use garments involved their modification through either volume rotation, swapping or resetting design details.
The second key concept deals with the manipulation of the tubular volumes which make all zero waste garments. By either considering the placement of the neckline on the tube and the effect this may have on the cloth, or through the manilupation of the tubes form by rotating and moving volume around, any of the basic 3D forms can be changed.
Rotation
Rotating the tubes that form a Make/Use garment enable the volume in the tubes to be redistributed and the resulting silhouetted changed.
Rotation modifications are essentially achieved through the slicing of the tube at an angle, followed by a rotation of one end through 180 degrees to form a 'bent' tube. In fabric, this bend may translate to the shaping of a sleeve, or the alteration of the drape around the lower body, creating more volume at the back while raising the front hem. It can also enable better fit and movement in areas where the body moves, such as shoulder/armhole area. When the slice is flattened out to 2D you see it is actually a bell curve shape. The steeper this bell curve the more angled the bend in the tube will be.
If you are using a narrow width fabric or are rotating an area with a small circumference such as the arm, the relative change in form is more extreme, therefore a more subtle curve is sufficient as the volume is distributed over a greater surface area.
Downloads
Body rotation template (left)
Body rotation template (right)
Shoulder rotation template (left)
Shoulder rotation template (right)
Elbow rotation template (left)
Elbow rotation template (right)
Swapping
Form can be manipulated in a zero waste garment by swapping asymmetric forms with each other - functioning in a similar way to rotating, this modification enables some more advanced form transformations
On the Cropped Tshirt, Long Tshirt and Long Coat, tapering of the sleeve is achieved though marking out a horizontal curved cut and swapping the resulting piece with its matching one on the other side. The result tapers the sleeve at the hem while dropping the garment hem at the back.
On the Wrap Skirt, shaping the vertical axis is achieved through marking out a vertical curved cut and exchanging the resulting piece with its matching piece on the other side. The result tapers the hem of the skirt while providing additional wrap cover over the hip area
On the Wrap Dress, a similar swap provides a change in silhouette and fit for the skirt while angling the sleeve. It gives the skirt shaping over the hip, into a fitted waist and a tapered hem.
Resetting
The nature of zero waste means that no piece of the original cloth is removed and discarded. A major benefit of this is that any of the cutlines to be 'reset' back to its original form, or even back to a flat piece of cloth.
The most obvious and simple area that this occurs in Make/Use is the neckline. As fashion or the body wearing the garment changes, the neckline can be reset and a new one opened, allowing the garment to have a variety of necklines over its lifetime. The 'repaired' necklines become a feature of the garment as a form of 'visible mending', showing the changes over it life and leaving a kind of narrative behind.
The repairs can also occur on any of the cut lines and modifications, sleeve rotations, body rotations, areas that have been swapped, even repairing the fabric back to its original 2D state and an entirely new garment made over the 'scars' of the previous life. In this was a Make/Use garment is infinitely transformable.
